Bobó de Frango

Translation: Chicken Stew

Pronunciation: bo-boa

Bobó is a chowder-like dish of the Bahia region. The word Bobó comes from African slaves and it means beans, even though today the dosh does not have beans.

Cassava, or yuca, is used to thicken the stew up. If you look up other Bobó recipes you will see lots of them using shrimp (camarão) or other fishes. In my family, we use chicken as the meat. The original recipe also uses palm oil to add more flavor.

This recipe is a staple at my grandmother's house. In Guiratinga, where she lives, she is very well known for her Bobó. She sells bowls of bobó de galinha at fundraisers for her church or other causes.

Growing up I have never tried Bobó until I made it for this blog. I had always only eaten Feijoada (a bean stew). I was expecting them to taste similar but Bobó has a very different taste. Another hard part of this recipe was finding yuca. Despite it being available year-round, it is not found in most grocery stores. Yuca comes from Costa Rica and other parts of Central and South America. Occasionally I can find Yuca at my local Meijer but it's rare. If it's not at your grocery store I would recommend a Latin or Asian type market/grocery store.

Recipe:

Prep Time: Until yuca is soft (depends on size)

Cook Time: 20-25 minutes

10-12 Servings

Difficulty: 4/5

Ingredients:

16 oz diced chicken

16 oz yuca

2 bay leaves

32 oz chicken stock

2 tbsp oil (1 tbsp for chicken pot, 1 tbsp for yuca pot)

1/2 clove of garlic

1/2 onion

1/2 red pepper

1 can tomato

1/2 tsp parsley

1 can corn

1 cup coconut milk

2 tbsp tomato paste

2 tbsp worchester sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

8 oz heavy whipping cream

Instructions:

1. Dice and marinate chicken breast

2. Peel and dice yuca. Boil in a pot with bay leaves and chicken stock.

3. While boiling yuca, in another pot, fry chicken with 1 tbsp of oil

4. When golden brown take out chicken and put to side. In that same pot fry 1 tbsp oil, garlic, onion. Stir on low.

5. Add red pepper, parsley, and tomato and mix.

6. When yuca is tender (can be poked with a fork) take it out of the pot. Blend in food processor or blender with 2 cups of the liquid from the pot.

7. When the tomato is soft add the chicken, beaten yuca, corn, coconut milk, and tomato paste. Mix together

8. Add in worchester sauce, salt, pepper, and heavy whipping cream

9. Let boil for 5 minutes and enjoy

Tips and Tricks:

• Yuca is actually poisonous if eaten raw so it is important to cook it all the way

• For better texture, remove the white fiber on the inside of the yuca

• The smaller the pieces of yuca are, the faster it cooks

• Bobó can also be made with shrimp or other white fish